Viber is Adding Secret Chats and an in-app Shopping Feature

Viber has today announced a slew of new features which are expected to take its messaging platform to the next level, and more importantly, maneuver into the one-stop shop club. The company will be rolling out two major additions in the coming week – secret chats and an in-app shopping platform for users to browse.

Secret chats, as the name suggests, are essentially private windows with better encryption and self-destructing capabilities. Users can define custom timers at the end of which the entire conversation will be eradicated. Furthermore, messages exchanged in a secret chat can’t be forwarded to other contacts, and on Android, Viber will be also blocking the screenshotting action. Due to the platform constraints, though, iOS users will only receive a notification if the recipient takes a screenshot of the chat.

The feature will serve as an extension to secret messages which Viber added recently, they’re basically ephemeral texts or photos (think Snapchat Stories) which users can share with their friends. The new secret chats, which are landing on both iOS and Android in the coming days. Viber, not long ago, also updated its app with the ability to hide conversations with PIN protection.

The other big news is Viber’s entry into the commercial messaging sector. They have launched an in-app shopping experience where users can browse and share goods without leaving the app whatsoever. Viber is initially partnering with brands including Macy’s, Rakuten.com and more. However, given Viber’s user base which is diminishing every quarter, we don’t expect a whole lot more brands to follow soon. That being said, Viber might have other plans to make this work.

Shubham Agarwal Author Shubham started as an intern with Technology Personalized and later graduated to be a full-time author. He dabs with both features and news posts. Currently based out of Ahmedabad, Shubham holds an engineering degree in Computer Science with a specialization in mobile applications.